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Erasmus Quotes

1466–1536 Netherlands

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (27 October 1466 – 12 July 1536) was a Dutch philosopher, humanist and theologian.

Netherlands
Educators
Essayists
Historians
Non-fiction authors

Also known as: Desiderius Erasmus, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Erasmus, Desiderius

Random Erasmus quote

69 quotes

Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.

Letter to Christian Northoff (1497)

I am a citizen of the world, known to all and to all a stranger.

Erasmus (1970)

In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king.

A speech comes alive only if it rises from the heart, not if it floats on the lips.

Ciceronianus (1528)

The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.

Adagia (1508)

I am a lover of liberty. I will not and I cannot serve a party.

Spongia adversus aspergines Hutteni (1523)

Among the blind the one-eyed man is king.

I have no patience with those who say that sexual excitement is shameful and that venereal stimuli have their origin not in nature, but in sin. Nothing is so far from the truth.

In Praise of Marriage (1519)

We call a fig a fig, and a skiff a skiff.

For what is life but a play in which everyone acts a part until the curtain comes down?

The Praise of Folly (1511)

There are no vices more dangerous than those which simulate virtue.

The Handbook of the Christian Soldier (1501)

Most Christians are superstitious rather than pious, and except for the name of Christ differ hardly at all from superstitious pagans.

Handbook of the Christian Soldier (1503)

In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Adages (1500)

There is nothing I congratulate myself on more heartily than on never having joined a sect.

Thomas More and Erasmus (1965)

It is an unscrupulous intellect that does not pay to antiquity its due reverence.

You must acquire the best knowledge first, and without delay; it is the height of madness to learn what you will later have to unlearn.

Letter to Christian Northoff (1497)

We must learn how to imitate Cicero from Cicero himself. Let us imitate him as he imitated others.

Ciceronianus (1528)

It is a good part of sagacity to have known the foolish desires of the crowd and their unreasonable notions.

That same man that renneth awaie
Maie fight again on other daie.

Wherever you encounter truth, look upon it as Christianity.

Erasmus of Rotterdam‎ (1934)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Erasmus (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.